IBM has made an announcement regarding the release of a new development tool known as Quarks. The tool is based on IBM Streams, which is a proprietary tool for processing wide quantities of live data. Quarks is an open source tool permitting programmers and manufacturers to create applications over connected devices. It also allows them to benefit from the live data created through connected devices.
IBM, also known as Big Blue is striving to create a community of developers and firms for this product with the main aim that this open source development tool will become the standard way in which certain types of IoT apps are made. The tool can be applied for safety in mining or other dangerous outdoor industries, or in health. In the health scenario, IBM can also link this new tool to Watson Health to review data and provide doctors and patients with feedback.
IBM is also the largest backer of blockchain, the open ledger technology. As per IBM’s senior vice president, Arvind Krishna, “I think the number of places that a distributed ledger can be used could become almost limitless.”
The company will be making contribution to the Hyperledger project and will be introducing new services for assisting software developers in creating blockchain services on its mainframe computers and devices via RFID tags. Apart from IBM, firms like Accenture, Fujitsu, Cisco, Red Hat and Hitachi are also involved in the Hyperledger project. IBM is also planning to establish a network of “IBM Garages” in London, New York, Singapore, and Tokyo to permit its customers to experiment with blockchain.
